Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

When I turn on my car, it idles rough and I try to give it a little gas but when I step on the gas pedal the motor does not respond. When the car is finally warmed up the idel goes up to normal which is right under 1 RPM. A frined of my told me to idel the car at 4000 RPM to check the cats but I could not get it up to 3000 RPM. The idel kept going up and down up and down while I was pressing on the gas, then the car misfired a couple of times. I did notice when I was driving, I could not get it to move more than 20 mph and my check engin light was flashing. I have looked for vacuum leaks and I have found nothing. Could it be the AMF or the throttle body. Anybody got any ideas? Thank You for your help.

Sounds like a vacuum leak. Vac leaks are hard to find without smoke test. You can take apart the intake boots and look for a tear. If you find nothing, take the car to an indie who is a BMW expert and get a smoke test.